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Cano not feeling pressure to carry Yankees

3/21/13: Tony Pena discusses Robinson Cano's leadership and the success of the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic

By Bryan Hoch
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MLB.com |

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Yankees' Opening Day lineup will be built around Robinson Cano's powerful bat, but the second baseman said that he does not feel any additional pressure to carry the team.

"It's going to be hard," Cano said. "All you want is to start the lineup with your starters. You don't want anybody to get hurt, but this is part of life. Hopefully, they'll get well soon and be back soon, and we can stay in the race so whenever they get back, we can be on track and they can help us make it all the way to the playoffs."

Cano said that the Yankees will miss the contributions of players like Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter in the early going, but Kevin Youkilis and Travis Hafner could help cushion the blows.

"We have guys like Youk that have been in the game a long time," Cano said. "We have Hafner, guys you hope can come in and have a great season for us, help us win games until we get the rest of the guys back."

Cano said that he is thankful that he was able to avoid the injury bug, for the most part. Cano was scratched from Wednesday's game against the Orioles with a stomach bug, but Cano said that he was well enough to play on Thursday as the Yanks wrapped up the Florida portion of their spring schedule.

"I feel good. Mentally, I feel good and my body feels good," Cano said. "That's all that matters. When the season starts, that's what you want -- to feel good mentally and physically. Hopefully, I feel like that the whole season."

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.